A revealing look inside
by PHAOE
Summary: oneshot. events after the episode 'haunted'. hint of robinraven friendship. rated safe.


a one-shot of the events after the episode 'Haunted'.

there is no real pairings, although maybe a hint of tenderness between robin and raven. that said, flame if you must; but remember: you were warned.

on the other hand, i would like constructive criticism.

i only own my ideas.

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A revealing look inside

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The door slide open before him, yet he hesitated; inky darkness spilled from within. Taking a deep breath he fumbled for the light switch, and golden light flooded his room.

'_A super hero who is afraid of the dark; wonderful_.' Robin wryly shook his head. Stepping inside, he allowed the door to shut behind him before flicking the lights back off; there was enough silver light from the moon shining through the large window to see.

He made his way further into his room, unclasping his cape and peeling off his shirt, letting them fall to the floor. Stopping, he pulled off the heavy steel-toed boots he wore before flopping down onto his unmade bed. Although Raven had done a little healing on him, one eye was still swollen and his muscled ached; it felt good to lie down.

He lay there on his back, eyes open, but not really looking at the ceiling above him. Cyborg had suggested that he get some rest, but the events of the day kept repeating themselves in his mind; too much had happened to allow for an easy sleep.

He had been bested once again by Slade; a dead Slade at that.

He had turned on his friends.

He had yelled at Starfire; hurt her feelings.

Clasping his hands under his head, he quickly stopped that thought process. Hurting Starfire made him feel lower than low; someone that sweet and innocent didn't deserve angry words.

He had seen things that he shouldn't have seen.

There was something else, something that he couldn't quite put a finger on. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling; although, it wasn't even a whole feeling, more like a shadow of one.

A soft knock on his door interrupted his thoughts.

He knew it was Raven.

"Come in." He called out but didn't move from his position on the bed. He heard the door open, then close and the soft rustling that was her cloak as she moved closer. "Have a seat." He offered, taking a hand from behind his head and moving it in a sweeping motion beside him on the bed, and then returned it to its original place.

He wasn't surprised when she didn't take him up on the offer, instead electing to remain standing, just out of his view from flat on his back.

She had stopped five feet from the bed, knowing that he could not see her. She did not ask why he was laying there, wide awake with the lights off; Robin always faced his fears and his problems head-on.

They remained like that for several minutes. Occasionally he could hear the same soft rustling, as if she was fidgeting. He lay there silently waiting; she would say what was on her mind when she was ready.

"I am sorry."

He sat halfway up, resting back on his elbows, finally looking over to where she stood. Even with the mask on, it was easy to tell he was surprised. "Why?"

"I invaded your privacy. I did something I promised myself I would never do."

"What do you mean?"

"When I joined our minds, it was a two-way street, Robin: I saw just as deep into you, as you saw into me." Although her voice was just as even as ever, her eyes were sad.

He sat fully up, staring at her. She met his mask with her eyes.

"What did you see?" His voice came out little more than a whisper.

She sighed and closed her eyes, remembering. When she spoke her voice sounded distant, as if she were speaking from the past. "People. A lot of them. I can hear laughter and music." She paused and inhaled deeply. "I can smell popcorn." A small frown appeared, creasing her forehead slightly. "But this isn't a pleasant memory. I -- _you_'re terrified. Something…" She opened her eyes and again met his masked ones. "You never do eat popcorn."

"No." He mumbled, quietly agreeing. "What else?"

She continued to look at him for a moment with her sad eyes before once more closing them, losing herself in memory. "Darkness. It's damp. You're underground? I feel excited, as well as nervous. I know that this may be the most important moment of my life. There will be so much expected of me, but I know that I can do it. I know that I can live up to everything this -- this _oath_, and everything it entails. I won't let -- Bruce? -- Bruce down." She opened her eyes, but did not meet his. "That's all I saw and felt."

"No." His voice was harsh and demanding. "What else do you know?"

Raven lowered her head. "You're colorblind."

He slumped back and sighed. "Yes."

She raised her head, looking back over to where he sat; his head was lowered, eyes closed.

There had been no colors in his memories, but she could not see this as a weakness in the boy wonder; although, it did go along way in explaining his color choice for a uniform.

He met her gaze. "Only two other people know some of those things that you saw."

"What I saw will die with me." It was a promise.

"I know." He started rubbing his temples, trying to ward off an approaching headache.

"It was weird. I could hear your voice, but it sounded slightly off. There was -- it was like a pressure against my mind, and then, when I let you _in_, that pressure was gone, and instead it was like we were one. I got flashes like I was remembering, but they weren't my memories." He lowered his hands. "I saw you, well, _myself_ as a young girl. I was confused and scared. There were people around me. Three men, and my -- my mother standing around me." His voice had gotten husky, and he sounded slightly disgusted. My arms were grabbed by two of the men, while the third… And my mother -- I was in pain, and my mother just _watched_."

Raven eyes continued to meet his mask, saying nothing.

Robin cleared his throat. "The other flash I got was you lying on the ground, huddled in a ball. You're crying; afraid and sorry for something you did. There are five men in the room with you. One of them is…" He cleared his throat again.

She briefly nodded her head. She knew which memories he was talking about, and she was not surprised that these were the two that he had seen.

"How do you feel?" She asked.

He knew what she was asking. "It's almost like there's a shadow. I can't really explain what it is, or what it feels like."

"You knew it was me at the door, didn't you?"

"Yeah, and I was sure of it."

"Robin, in order for me to get inside you, I had to create a pathway between our two minds. For that kind of access to work, we had to completely open our minds to each other, and in that time that we were linked together, we had absolute access to both minds. It would seem that because it was a brief link, only our most significant memories were seen."

Robin licked his lips. "My parents -- "

She held up a hand. "No, like I said: These are our most significant memories. They are important to us, and we have kept them secret for a reason. I don't think that we need to talk about them right now." A small, sad smile appeared on her face. "Maybe someday…"

He met her sad smile with one of his own for a moment.

"What about this 'shadow'?" He finally asked, all smiles gone.

"Every magic book that I have ever read has warned against mind linking with someone because of the ramifications. Unfortunately, this is the side effect of that action. After such a complete mind meld, there really is no way to sever it entirely. We left a fingerprint on each others mind; a _shadow_."

"What does it mean?"

"Think of it as always having an eye on me. We will be more attuned to each other's movements and moods; I gave you some empathy towards me, and it appears that my empathy will be stronger with you than to others."

"Will it go away?"

She shook her head. "No."

Robin took a deep breath, letting it all sink in. He was feeling the conflict that was coming off of Raven in waves, seeing the bruise showing in her silver-grey skin on her chin. "You knew all of this, yet you still did it?"

Raven hung her head. She did not know what to say.

"Thank you."

Her head came up. She had not been expecting that.

"You risked your safety and your privacy to save me. Thank you."

Raven merely nodded her head, unable to express what she felt in words.

She moved towards the door, pausing when she reached it. "You really should get some rest."

"I will." His grin was back.

With cloak swirling she left, and he was alone in the dark room again.

He settled back onto to bed. Sleep came quickly.

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so, how was it?

this, like my first story, is a one-shot and will stay a one-shot. they are merely setting the stage for something, hopefully, bigger.

speaking of my other story, you all probably noticed that i had no page breaks to separate the different scenes… that was my own dumb fault, and while i would have (or should have) fixed it right away, i was too pissed at myself to do anything about it then and later i just didn't care. so, sorry about that, but i'm sure you can figure out were the breaks should be.

to the reviewers of my first story:

**Cherry Jade **thank you for the kind words, and thank you for being my very first. ;)

**Darksideofraven2u **thank you, but no more for that story

**Ravenrouge19** thank you, and sorry that that is all for that one.

**KhmerGurl13** thank you very much. i hope that you like this one too.

**Raerob4ever** thank you; you're too kind.

**AndurilFLAMEofTHEwest** what are your thoughts on raven knowing? thank you for the nice words, and you are welcome for writing it.

**Monito** flashing you a smile

**Surfer Tsunamiya** thank you very muchy. me too.

**Red Vixen **thank you, and believe me, when I show something more than friendship between robin and raven it will be pretty obvious.

**Sherbet Mayhem **i am flattered that you liked my story. hope school is good, but don't forget: your turn to update.


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